Museum Itinerary

I did the St. Chappelle close to it's closing time and did not have to wait in line at all. That was in May. The Orangerie gets the least amount of crowds, then the D'Orsay, followed by, of course, the Louvre.

I would probably start with the D'Orsay when it opened, follow with the Orangerie, and end at the St. Chappelle, visiting maybe the Concergerie, Notre Dame, or just walking around the area.

Thanks Mike - that's very helpful. How much time did you spend at St. Chappele? If we go before closing (which must be nice), I want to see how much time to allow. Thanks again!

My experience at the Louvre is that if you show up about an hour and a half before closing time you can be in and out after having seen the "big three" in much less than an hour.

My experience with both Louvre and Orsay is that lines are not a huge issue if you do it right..

Orsay,, go in evening,, lovely time . Short lines, I remember just basically walking in,, and this was in the summer.

Louvre,, I have been there at least 7 or 8 times, I have never had a long wait,, since I enter underground through the shopping mall entrance off of Rue Du Rivoli. Buy ticket from machine,, walk in,, yes, I have had a few people in front of me for security,, but honestly can never remember that taking more then 10 minutes,, and I always go in summer,,so high season for sure.

The longest line I have encountered was for St Chapelle,, but if I had gone first thing it would likely have not been a big deal. I went middle of day.

Do go inside Notre Dame,, its free, and no line skipping with pass, but it doesn't matter, lines LOOK long, but move very steadily,, so its worth waiting the ten minutes or so to get in. The Towers are not free, and the pass does cover admission,, but does not allow line skipping, so unless you are then before it opens,, its a LONG wait,, they only allow 20 people up at once,,so if you want to do it,, go early.

if you go into notre dame like the above post advised (and this obviously was very good advice), the paris museum pass gives you free entry onto the towers above the church. Without the pass it costs something like 8 euro. I was in Paris last may and this was by far one of my favorite things we saw in the city. The views from the top are spectacular and I would not miss it especially since it is free with the museum pass. Also, even though you will get into the Louvre without waiting in line, there will be huge crowds around the major attractions there basically whatever time you go. We spent 2 days in the Louvre and did not get to see it all. the orangerie is very near by the louvre and was FANTASTIC and should be able to be seen pretty quickly. I would go to the louvre, and leave there in time to see the orangerie for maybe one hour or two before closing.

Lastly, we used the pass to get into Versailles. You could spend a half a day in the palace and gardens (the gardens cost extra but are well worth it) and then get off the train at the D'Orsay stop which is directly on the way when travelling from Paris to Versailles.

The tower at ND is not covered by the museum pass--about 8 euros as someone said and there is usually a very long line. I think the pass covered the excavations near ND.

The museum pass covered the towers of Notre Dame when we were there in June, 2008. We went to the tower entrance 30 minutes before it opened and were second in line. When choosing Paris museums to visit, don't forget the Cluny, our favorite. It's devoted to medieval artifacts and also has the famous unicorn tapestries. There's also some Roman archeological items, I believe, but that part was closed when we visited. The Cluny is near the Luxembourg Gardens.

yes, last may when i was there the museum pass covered the towers. There is another pass available that does not cover it. As i said, I think it is worth doing even if you have to pay for it. it was a highlight for me.